Schedule

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF SOCIOLOGY

January 21

Introduction. 

January 23

Babbie, Earl. 1992. "Theory and Research." Pp. 39-65 in The Practice of Social Research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. [hand-out]

scientific method

theory

hypothesis

concepts, variables and indicators

operationalization

observation

deduction vs. induction

falsification

objectivity and intersubjectivity

paradigm

ANALYZING SOCIAL DATA

January 28

Carter, "A Primer on Critical Reading." 

1990 racial composition of the United States

Change in racial composition from 1990 to 2000

explanation, description and understanding

independent variable (x)

dependent variable (y)

relationships between variables: positive, negative, linear, independent

intervening variable

validity and reliability

error: random vs. systematic

categorical variables: nominal and ordinal

numerical variables: interval and ratio

to control for variables

January 30

Carter, "A Primer on Elementary Data Analysis."

mean, median and mode

correlation coefficient (r)

statistical significance

crosstabulation

causality

spuriousness

multivariate model

intervening variable

interaction effect

February 4

Meet in the library's electronic classroom (room 160, before the reserve room). Bring the Carter textbook with CD-ROM to class.

Carter, chap. 1

STUDYING SOCIAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR WITH SURVEYS 

February 6

Meet in the library's electronic classroom (room 160, before the reserve room). Bring the Carter textbook with CD-ROM to class.

Neuman, W. Lawrence. 2001. "Survey Research." Pp. 246-289 in Social Research Methods. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. [hand-out]

February 11

Student CHIP report due.

Harris, David R. and Jeremiah Joseph Sim. 2002. "Who is Multiracial? Assessing the Complexity of Lived Race." American Sociological Review 67: 614-627. [hand-out]

Take the F Scale questionnaire to measure the degree to which you have an "authoritarian personality."

survey research

questionnaire

interview schedule

secondary data analysis

survey questions: closed-ended vs. open-ended

unit of analysis

response rate

index

scale

regression analysis

dummy variable

adjusted R²

Recommended

View the 2000 Census short-form and long-form questionnaires.

INTERVIEWING SINGLE MOTHERS ABOUT THEIR SURVIVAL STRATEGIES

February 13

Edin & Lein, chapters 1-3.

Recommended

Richard Rothstein, "When Mothers on Welfare Go To Work" (New York Times, June 5, 2002).

View the latest data on US poverty by state and county at the US Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates website. 

February 18

Edin & Lein, chapters 4-8.

^{February 20}

Finish Edin & Lein.

^Recommended

^{See how much these wealth and poverty levels are in current dollar levels using this inflation conversion table.}

^SAMPLING

^{February 25}

^{Schutt, Russell K. 1996. "Sampling." Pp. 147-185 in Investigating the Social World. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge. [hand-out]}

^sample

^population

^elements

^{sampling methods: probability vs. nonprobability}

^{sampling frame}

^{availability sample}

^{snowball sample}

^{purposive sample}

^{stratified random sample}

^{February 27}

^{Take-home midterm handed out in class.}

^{Catch up with reading.}

^{OBSERVING INFORMAL GROUPS ON THE STREET}

^{March 4}

^{Take-home midterm due.}

qualitative research

^ethnography

^{participant observation}

^{field research}

^{inductive research}

^exploration

^{unstructured interview}

^{March 6}

^{March 8-23: SPRING BREAK}

^{March 25}

^{Duneier, Introduction, Parts 1-5 and Afterword by Hakim Hasan (important: read all footnotes).}

^{settings for field research: open vs. closed}

^{covert research}

^reactivity

^{field notes}

^{triangulation}

^{control group}

^{March 27}

^{Receive fieldwork assignment in class.}

^{Duneier, Appendix.}

^{Also, read fieldnote example.}

^{Film: "High School" (d. Frederick Wiseman)} 

^{EXPLAINING OBEDIENCE USING SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS}

^{April 1}

^{Fieldwork assignment due.} 

^{Wacquant, Loïc. 2002. "Scrutinizing the Street: Poverty, Morality, and the Pitfalls of Urban Ethnography." American Journal of Sociology 107(6): 1468-1532. [PDF download; needs Adobe Acrobat Reader to view]}

^{Duneier, Mitchell. 2002. "What Kind of Combat Sport is Sociology?" American Journal of Sociology 107(6): 1551-1576. [PDF download; needs Adobe Acrobat Reader to view]}

^{April 3}

^{Leavitt, Fred. 2001. "Experimenting: Two Groups." Pp. 90-107 in Evaluating Scientific Research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. [hand-out]}

^{"Large Trial Finds AIDS Vaccine Fails to Stop Infection" (New York Times, February 24, 2003).}

^experiment

^treatment

^{comparison groups: experimental vs. control}

^{experimental measures: pretest vs. posttest}

^{validity: internal vs. external}

^{posttest distortion}

^{Hawthorne effect}

^{classical experiment}

^{Solomon four group design}

^{posttest-only control group design}

^{April 8}

^{Milgram, chaps. 1-5.}

^{April 10}

^{No class. Go to library and find article for methodological critique and comparison paper.}

^{April 15}

^{Milgram, chaps. 6-7, 10, 12-14, Epilogue, Appendix I.}

^{risk-benefit ratio}

 

^Recommended

^{American Sociological Association Code of Ethics: General Principles}

^{EXAMINING MEDIA EFFECTS WITH CONTENT ANALYSIS}  

^{April 17}

^{Methodological critique and comparison paper due.}

^{Berg, Bruce L. 2001. "An Introduction to Content Analysis." Pp. 238-267 in Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. [hand-out]} 

^{content analysis}

^{types of content: manifest vs. latent}

^{intercoder reliability}

^{April 22}

Adkins-Covert, Tawnya et al. 2000. "News In My Backyard: Media and Democracy in an 'All American' City." Sociological Quarterly 41: 227-244. [hand-out] 

^{April 24}

Roscigno, Vincent J. and William F. Danaher. 2001. "Media and Mobilization: The Case of Radio and Southern Textile Worker Insurgency, 1929 to 1934." American Sociological Review 61: 21-48. [hand-out] 

^{SOCIAL RESEARCH AS DAILY PRACTICE} 

^{April 29}

^{Mills, C. Wright. 1959. "On Intellectual Craftsmanship." Pp. 195-226 in The Sociological Imagination. New York: Grove Press. [hand-out]}

^{May 1}

^{Class cancelled: attend office hour appointments this week.}

^{May 6}

^{Research proposal due.}   

^{Receive take-home final exam.}